Strong performance in Albany

October 15, 2007

This past weekend, our men’s and women’s team took a break from the New England competition and traveled to the University of Albany for some great races. Although the forecast has predicted rain, the clouds actually cleared at the beginning of the first race. There were blue skies, temps in the low 60’s, perfect conditions for racing.

The varsity races were limited to 9 so in both genders, we fielded runners in the junior varsity races. The JV men raced first and toeing the line for Midd were Peter Hoffman, Dan Kaufman, Jack Terrett, Nat Nelson, Donny Dickson, Tyler Prince, Russ Griggs, Glen Frieden, Will Ingliss and Ian Sanders-Fleming.. Peter moved well from the gun, sitting just off the front runners. This course, unlike most courses that we compete on, is more flat and has quite a bit of pavement on it. Peter cruised through the course, on pace for a very good performance stopping the clock at 27:03, taking 6th place overall. Dan, seeing Peter ahead and realizing that each person on the team is critical, continued to step up his individual performance, coming in with a huge kick across the fields. He was Midd’s 2nd runner in for the JV team at 27:19 – in 8th place. After running a very smart first mile, Jack actually ran a negative split race and finished only 3 seconds behind Dan, good for 7th. Once again, first years Nat & Donny navigated the fast terrain, both earning a solid time and place for the team. Nat edged Donny with a 27:32 and 27:33 respectively, good for 11th and 12th. That finished out the men’s scorers, with Middlebury capturing 2nd place in the JV race behind Harvard University. Tyler Prince looked very strong and seemed to enjoy the flat course. He missed the 29-minute barrier by 1 second, coming in 33rd. Russ Griggs returns to action after being side-lined for the first part of the season. He came in 39th, followed by Glen Frieden, Will Ingliss & Ian Sanders-Fleming.



The varsity men lined up next. With a field of 230 all racing towards a tight right turn at about 150m, the men had to get out quickly in order to avoid being caught up in the bottleneck. Again, Jimmy Butcher not only puts himself in the top group of the races but also seems to thrive being there. The pace in the men’s field was very quick and very exciting. At mid-point of the race, Jimmy continued to cruise with the front pack of about 15 runners. Mike Waters appeared to be very focused during the race and just kept rolling through, passing people over the distance. At about 3 miles, the front pack began to break up a bit. Jimmy held his own to the finish, coming in 14th place with a time of 25:137. Mike came in 30th place at 26:14. Jack Wambach had one of his best races of the season, working off a good start and then moving aggressively over the last 2 miles. He was 3rd man for the Panthers at 26:28. Stanis Moody-Roberts again came up big for the Panthers. He maneuvered through the course with determination, coming in at 26:32. Rainey Johnson continues to improve his position on the team as he became the 5th man in at 58th place. Peter Murphy is coming back stronger each week and had a solid performance with his 64th place at 26:48. Max Mackinnon and Vic Guevara came in 4 seconds later, both happy with their sub 27 minute 8k performance. Chris Free came in at 27:48.
Overall team honors went to Harvard University with 38 points. The Panthers took home 6th place with a point total of 184. Quite an impressive performance, especially considering that Bruce Hallett was not racing for the day. There were a total of 26 teams on the line from Division I, II and III.



The Varsity women lined up immediately after the men finished. In fact, a couple of racers from the men’s race were still on the course when the gun sounded. The women’s race went out quickly but got more strung out than the men’s race. There was a constant stream of women racing with no large packs of 8 or 9 runners, as had occurred in the men’s racer. Alexandra Krieg once again ran a very smart and very impressive race. After a smart first mile, she methodically moved through the field, passing all but the first few runners. She sprinted for 6th place with a great time of 17:44.
Amanda Lee employed a completely opposite race tactic, getting out fast from the gun and defending her position. She was 2nd for the team in 30th place overall
A very exciting race developed for Middlebury, as our next 6 women found each other after the first mile and pushed each other throughout the entire race. They had great individual performances, which resulted in superb team results. Only 17 seconds separated Kaitlyn Saldanha (42nd), Kate Hirschboeck (49th), Erin Toner (57th), Anna Chavis (60th), Annie Sullivan (61st), and Jess Spar (66th). Cailey Condit came in 76th place with a season best time of 19:25. A tight pack finishing like that will prove to be critical in the larger Championship meets over the next few 6th place. As in the men’s race, 1st place team honors went to Harvard University. A total of 29 teams competed.



The JV women lined up next, excited to race after watching their teammates run so well. Sophia Spring ran a great race and looked like she enjoyed herself in doing so. She raced with the front pack, responding to all of the surges and tactics before out-sprinting a competitor from Harvard. She came in 2nd place overall with a time of 18:37. Her time would have put her only 2 seconds behind Amanda in the varsity field! Tara Doyle back to racing after many weeks of cross training had a great race, coming in 7th place with a time of 19:22. Ellie Buechner had a great day on the course and likely one of her best in a Midd uniform. She came in 9th place at the finish with a 19:26. Sarah Norton raced strong throughout the 3+ miles and was number 4 for Midd in 10h place overall. Her time was 19:30. Still new to cross country, Jess Ward put up a great performance, coming in 5th for the team with a time of 19:38. Amanda Quinlan, Mallory Hicks, and Christina Kunycky came down the field racing each other, finishing within 12 seconds of each. Amanda came in 14th in 19:40, Emily in 15th in 19:41, and Christina in 17th at 19:52. Rounding out our racers for the day with excellent times were Hallie Fox (19th – 20:02), Charlotte Bemis (20th – 20:03), Chrissy Fulton (29th-20:27), Katharine Gura (35th-20:34), Michelle Cady (47th – 21:08) and Kayla Race (50th- 21:12).

This weekend is a rest weekend for the teams. Our next meet is the NESCAC Championships hosted by Williams College.